Building a Workflow Engine for a Real World Use Case, Using Mature Java Components

When it comes to complex task execution, a workflow model seems to be the natural way to go, since it allows to split the task into single, transactional steps, that could be combined to build up the whole tasks to be executed. Our main goal is creating a workflow model and a system to handle their tasks, focusing simplicity and avoiding too complex frameworks. This document describes a workflow architecture designed to accomplish those goals, using existing and mature Java technologies, mainly provided by open source implementations. Despite its simplicity, it will give enough performance to be used in a real world, high load scenario, providing clustering features. Not less important is the API exposed to workflow designers: the people responsible for creating the tasks definitions that will run into the engine. We are looking here for the simplest language, but still providing enough features to design general purpose tasks.